Partner Article

Power over Ethernet lighting to deliver healthier, more productive workspaces, says new amBX CEO

The advent of connected lighting will deliver massive operational and installation cost savings and up to 75% energy savings in commercial and public installations switching to LED, according to the new CEO of a British company leading the way in Power over Ethernet control.

John Niebel of amBX says that the advent of Connected Lighting means that Power over Ethernet lighting systems will become commonplace in the next few years, much in much the same way as VoIP has in telephony. Network-connected lighting control using amBX software will mean that lighting systems will become much quicker and easier to install and faster and richer in configuration.

“Connected Lighting will produce lower installation costs and a lower Total Cost of Ownership,” explains Niebel. “Philips and Cisco both evidence a 50% reduction in installation costs for Internet-based connected lighting systems compared with conventional AC powered systems.”

Niebel joins amBX with 25 years’ experience in Lighting Controls and Home Automation, first at Thorn Lighting Controls and then at Lutron EA Ltd, where he developed, built and managed its business in residential lighting control systems.

“amBX has developed a new way of controlling lighting, by breaking the “if this, then that” programming model. A new paradigm in controls has been invented that ensures that the optimum desired output is always achieved. The new way of doing things can be characterised as “Better, Faster and Cheaper”, he explains.

This will deliver high performance lighting control using a building’s Ethernet network and removes the need for costly wiring and complex technical interfaces. At the same time richer lighting experiences are easily implemented. amBX is platform agnostic and can be used with PoE systems, wirelessly, with PLC or using existing control protocol options.

“Controlling lighting using Power over Ethernet lights with amBX software will enable building owners to use richer, bio-adaptive lighting in new ways to create healthier, more productive workspaces and environments,” Niebel continues. “This will lead to better human-centric lighting at desks, in meeting rooms and public spaces, in terms of intensity and colour changes.”

The impact of lighting on human performance and wellbeing is becoming widely understood and new systems like amBX will be able to deliver more appropriate lighting. Bio-adaptive lighting provides artificial light controlled in such a way as to match the needs of human biological cycles, or circadian rhythms – our physical, mental and behavioural changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness - in the most effective and appropriate way. It supports improved health and wellbeing and aspects of human behaviour that benefit from varied and changeable lighting. amBX can be combined with daylight harvesting systems.

“amBX software will deliver better integration of lighting with other systems. Improved use of sensors will provide better lighting control for optimal light settings and energy usage,” says Niebel.

“The technology is proven. amBX has provided the software that runs one of the world’s first fully PoE powered and controlled office spaces at the University of Strathclyde’s Technical Innovation Centre. This was as part of Cisco’s Light as a Service (LaaS) initiative,” he adds.

Ends.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Howard Robinson .